Hildegard Binder Johnson
Hildegard Binder Johnson | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | January 18, 1993 | (aged 84)
Nationality | German |
Citizenship | American |
Education | B.A. in Geography and History Ph.D. in Geography |
Spouse | Palmer O. Johnson |
Children | 2 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Geography |
Institutions | Macalester College |
Hildegard Binder Johnson (August 20, 1908 โ January 18, 1993) was a German-American geographer known for her research into the German diaspora and for her work in historical geography on the midwestern United States. She founded the geography department at Macalester College and was heavily involved in geographical research in the state of Minnesota. Serving on multiple state government committees and positions in various academic societies, she was given a number of awards for her geography research, teaching activities, and environmentalism.
Early life and education
Hildegard Binder Johnson was born in Berlin on August 20, 1908. She was the only child of a middle-class government official.
Career
In what would have a longstanding impact on the rest of her life, Johnson published a study in 1930 while still working on her doctorate that discussed the history of European colonies in Africa and concluded that they were not appropriate for permanent settlement colonies. The publication would prove negative to her career due to the highly inflammatory and threatening response from the Nazi Party to her work, who condemned and banned her study from further publication and forced existing copies to be destroyed.[3] The only part of her study that has been recovered since is a figure that showed a map distribution of Europeans in Africa, which was the earliest such map to ever be made on the topic. This map only survived thanks to an anonymous benefactor that had it published separately in an edition of the journal Koloniale Rundschau.[3]
After threats against her person and what she saw beginning to happen to her Jewish friends in the country, she fled to England in 1934 to become a school teacher at the
While at the university, Johnson began teaching geography classes in two unrelated departments, but was able to expand the curriculum over time and involve other professors in teaching geography courses as well. Her efforts resulted in the founding of the geography department and the appointment of other faculty as a part of it. A National Science Foundation grant in the 1960s allowed her to make the Department of Geography an official professional department at the university, along with the creation of a cartography lab. She additionally acted as a visiting professor to a number of other universities and their geography departments, including those in Europe and Africa. Another speaking role she involved herself in was with non-profit and professional organizations that she spoke to about the importance of geographical knowledge and environmental ethics and conservation around the world.[3][1]
Starting in 1958, Johnson helped to establish the African Studies Program that was distributed across the
Research
Johnson's geographical research focus was largely on German activity around the world during her early career. This included the
From the 1960s onward, she returned to her original topic of German colonial development in Africa and focused instead on how Christian missionaries impacted the landscape of the continent and the geographical partitioning of land. A significant amount of Johnson's research attention involved maps and how they shaped cultural understanding and history by how geographical regions were represented over time and their interactions with
In total, Johnson was involved in the publication of three books, five
Associations and positions
Johnson was a member of a large number of professional societies, including the
Awards and honors
The first award Johnson received was the "Outstanding Contribution to Conservation Education" award from the Izaak Walton League due to her environmentalism work. In 1958, she received the Meritorious Contribution Award from the American Association of Geographers thanks to her lifetime of research on the American Middle West. The year before she retired, Macalester College honored Johnson with the "Thomas Jefferson Award for Teaching" and an honorary doctorate the following year.[3] They also named The Hildegard Binder Johnson award after her, which is presented annually to outstanding junior geography majors.[11] Finally, the "Award for Outstanding Achievement in German American Studies" was given to Johnson in 1992 from the Society for German-American Studies.[3]
Personal life
In 1936, she married Palmer O. Johnson, a University of Minnesota professor. The two had originally met during her single year in England where they bumped into each other at the British Museum library.[3] They had two daughters, Gisela and Karin.[1] Johnson died on January 18, 1993.[3]
Bibliography
Published books
- — (1963). Carta Marina: World Geography in Strassburg, 1525. ISBN 978-0-8371-7310-8.[12]
- —; Mather, Cotton;
- — (1976). Order Upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country. ISBN 978-0-19-501913-1.[15]
Published papers
- — (January 1946). "Intermarriages Between German Pioneers and Other Nationalities in Minnesota in 1860 and 1870". S2CID 143834555.
- — (March 1951). "The Location of German Immigrants in the Middle West". JSTOR 2561181.
- — (April 1967). "The Location of Christian Missions in Africa". JSTOR 213158.
References
- ^ . Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- .
- ^ . Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hildegard B. Johnson; taught at Macalester for 28 years". Star Tribune. January 23, 1993. p. 4B – via ProQuest.
- Association of American Geographers (Interview). Interviewed by Louis Seig. Library of Congress. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- ^ Morgan, Bill (July 7, 2007). "Germans came to area for fresh start". St. Cloud Times. p. C3 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Glasrud, Clarence A. (1979). "A Heritage Deferred: The German-Americans in Minnesota" (PDF). Institute of Education Sciences. Concordia College. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- .
- The Amicus Journal. 23 (1): 26โ29 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Student Awards: Hildegard Binder Johnson Award in Geography". Macalester.edu. Macalester College. 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- JSTOR 2858449. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- JSTOR 2562038. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- ProQuest 1300167147 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Reviews for Order Upon the Land:
- Manning TJ (April 1977). "United States: HILDEGARD BINDER JOHNSON. Order Upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country". . Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- Rohrbough MJ (Spring 1980). "Order Upon the Land: the U. S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country".
- Carmony DF (September 1977). "Review: Order Upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country by Hildegard Binder Johnson". JSTOR 27790227. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- Barker J (1978). "Reviews of Books: Order upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country". JSTOR 3637480. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- Ericson MA (Fall 1977). "Johnson. Order Upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country (Book Review)". Rural Sociology. 42 (3): 432โ433 – via ProQuest.
- Olsen ML (April 1977). "Book Reviews: Order upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country by Hildegard Binder Johnson". JSTOR 3741175. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
- Swenson RG (1978). "Book reviews: Order Upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country. By Hildegard Binder Johnson". . Retrieved May 18, 2021.